Bala Shark upside down

[dgrammer1]

I have a bala shark that is about 8" long. I have had him in a 125G tank with three oscars about the same size. Tonight I did a 50% water change and now the shark is upside down almost as if he is dead. I took him out and put in a quarantine tank in fear of the oscars killing him overnight. My water params are pretty much the same as they were with the exception of nitrates. Ph is 7.1, nitrites 0, ammonia 0, nitrates 10-20 (the were 20-40). Temperature hasen't change more than 2 degree's with the water change. Any ideas on why doing a 50% water change would cause this? I usually do a 25% change every other week but this time my nitrates were a little higher than usual.

Thanks alot

 

[revengeishere]

I had the same problems with the school of my bala shark! all of them died but 2....they somehow got stressed when i did 30% instead of the usual 20% water change i did. The had ich after that. Now, one of the survivng bala has his fins healing as he had fin rot(secondary infectio due to ich)...

 

[Angel Lady]

did you change the ph any when you did the water change? balas will sure let you know if something aint right.

 

[CFC]

Balas like all large barbs are badly affected by low oxygen levels,by changing half the water in the tank you may have caused the levels of O2 to drop which would cause the bala to keel over.If you have one of those taps that shoots the water out in a jet it could be the cause of the problem,when forced out under pressure water looses a lot of the gasses it carries (including some of the the chlorine that is used to treat it so its not all bad).If this is the case the water you added back to the aquarium would have been very low in o2.

Another thing could be shock to a sudden change in nitrate consentration,how much did the nitrates drop after the water change? The nitrates build up slowly so the fish gradually become used to them,if you have unusually high nitrate reasings it is best to bring them down slowly by doing a series of water changes over a period of a few days.

If the bala is still acting strangely i would suggest increasing aeration,prefferably by means of a airstone and pump and see if that helps.

 

[dgrammer1]

Well, The bala shark was dead this morning when I woke up. I called the LFS and they said the same thing that balasharks are very suseptible to large water changes. The nitrates dropped from about 40 to about 20. I hate to learn things the hard way as he was a pretty cool fish. I don't know if I should get another oneor not. I am not sure if adding a bala shark to a tank with 3 oscars is a good idea or not. THese guys got along pretty good but they were all put in the tank at the same time.

Is there any other things I should possible do when doing a large water change like that? I mean my 3 oscars and pleco are all fine and do not seem to be affected by the change. I used a python no-spill kit to drain and fill the tank, while adding tap water conditioner a few drops every few minutes and ph decreaser 2 times during the fill (half teaspoon when 3/4 full and half teaspoon when full).


Thanks

 

[wetwetwet]

I used a python no-spill kit to drain and fill the tank, while adding tap water conditioner a few drops every few minutes and ph decreaser 2 times during the fill (half teaspoon when 3/4 full and half teaspoon when full).

Is this your normal procedure and never a problem before?

If I understand right the conditioner and pH decreaser go into the tank as you add the water? This could be causing large fluctuations in the water parameters severly stressing the fish

What pH is your tap water and whats in your tank?

I know people have their own way of doing things but imho it would be better to have the water allready made up and especially if your changeing things like the pH then also test it before its added to the tank...

 

[Angel Lady]

sorry to hear about your bala. I know it breaks my heart to lose a fish but if you are going to buy another one it would be beat if you bought three or more they are a schooling fish I might not have spelled that right but anyway they do better if kept in groups catfishcrazy sure helped me out when it came to my balas they have tripled thier size since I got the blood worms.

 

[CFC]

catfishcrazy sure helped me out when it came to my balas they have tripled thier size since I got the blood worms.

) Glad my advise helped,balas are my favourite non catfish fish

Dgrammer FKSM is correct if you get some more balas buy at least 3 although i must admit IMO oscars are not good tankmates for balas,if you want a large shoaling barb like fish to go with your O's than try tinfoil barbs,they grow to similar sizes as the balas but grow much quicker and are more capable of looking after themselves with large cichlids.